


The Maiden Of Madness

by xXFireSagaXx



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24996856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXFireSagaXx/pseuds/xXFireSagaXx
Summary: What If The Disco Dancer's Card Was Never Selected..
Relationships: The Detective | Matthew Patrick & The Jet Setter | Rosanna Pansino, The Disco Dancer | Colleen Ballinger/The Savant | Joey Graceffa, The Record Producer | Manny MUA & The Troublemaker | Nikita Dragun
Kudos: 13





	The Maiden Of Madness

**Author's Note:**

> The story begins moments before the Maiden Of Madness is recovered..

"Oh wait, I think I got something.." Joey digs his hand further into the jar of black tar.  
"Oh yeah?" Rosanna's eyes light up, maybe something good will come out of this after all.  
"I have no idea, okay.." He takes his hand out. "What is it?"  
Safiya sees something round on the surface of his palm, and picks it off..  
"It's a coin." She whispers.  
"It's a coin!" Rosanna repeats, glaring at their new-found treasure.  
"Wait, let me see! Let me see!"  
"It's a Lazarus coin." Safiya responds, and hands Joey the coin.. "Oh shit.." She continues, glaring at the window. 

It's the final coin! Joey sighs.. Maybe, just maybe, his friends will gain his trust again.  
So now we have both, so if we get out of here, we can open that box. Determination fills Safiya's mind. She remembers Matt's final words. He knew what it will do, and soon enough, she will too. 

"Okay, let's get out of here. Let's meet up with the others." Joey walks to the door. The back door swings open, and laughter fills the room. The other doll is on their tail. "Go, go!" Joey screams! Rosanna, Mortimer, Safiya and Joey sprint out as fast as possible.  
"Come on guys." Mortimer whispers, and shuts the door behind them. It's no use, and the doll pushes it back open.  
"Run! Run till you can't go no more!"  
"Door, door, door, door, door!" Ro squeaks. "Go, go, go!" She continues, as she hustles the others into the Doll-maker's Shoppe. Once they're all in, Safiya slams the door closed.  
"Oh, hell no!" 

Just as the trap door opens, Joey and all Colleen's friends come running into the Shoppe.  
"Oh my gosh, guys."  
"Are you okay?" Manny asks, which is then repeated by Colleen.  
"What the hell is that!?" Nikita sees the coin in Joey's tar-coated hand.  
"Joey found the other coin!"  
"You're lying! What!?"  
"Yes!" says Joey. Now's his chance to prove himself, and show them he's not useless..

Oh, my god. We have two coins. Needless to say, Manny's relieved.  
All this time, Colleen was accusing him. He proved himself to the group. Nikita hopes Colleen feels guilty.  
Colleen's kind of eating her words at this point. Maybe he was telling the truth, after all. She just hopes he'll forgive her.

"We also found this door over here!" Colleen adds, trying to be as helpful as possible, pointing at a secret door that only just opened up. "So, I think we need to go inside."

We need to go inside there, and figure out how to cleanse this artefact. Manny knows that, but he's not sure at what price it'll cost.

"Oh, dear lord." Nikita gasps.  
All there is, is this sort of large metal contraption in the middle of the room. Surrounded by burning candles dotted around.  
She's real scary-looking, is all Joey has to say on the matter. 

"Seal the blood-doll in the Maiden's face to open the chamber." Nikita reads the note in front of the Maiden. "Do we have to go up there?" She asks, pointing at the Maiden's face.  
"Yeah, I don't think I can reach that." Rosanna sighs, she's not feeling helpful at the minute. She just hopes the others will understand her disadvantage.  
"I'm the tallest." Manny says, and reaches up to the Maiden's face. 

In order to unlock whatever's inside this Maiden Of Madness, we have to present it with the doll that we got, Nikita summarises their task in her head. This'll be easy..

Manny opens the Maiden's face, and throws the Blood-Doll into it.  
"Okay, Manny. I think we need to open it." Joey responds, and only after does he realise the blood smears on the front door. He soon regrets what he says.  
Manny and Joey hold each side of the door, and open the Maiden's doors.  
"Oh, my god." They say in unison, as they look into a tiny chamber of millions of spikes.  
"Nope, nope." Joey retreats from the Maiden as quick as he can.

Rosanna takes a look in. There are spikes, tons of blood, organs on the ground.  
It honestly looks like something out of a horror movie, or a really bad Saturday night, is Nikita's opinion. 

"You have opened the Maiden Of Madness, and regret will surely follow. To cleanse the Night Killer's doll, it must first be placed in the chamber beneath her feet." Safiya reads.  
Almost as soon as the chamber is mentioned, it opens up.  
"Oh, my god."  
Nikita bends down, throws the doll in, and kicks the chamber shut.  
"RIP Bitch."

Safiya continues, "Then one of you must be chosen by vote to forfeit their life and enter the Maiden. Once the door has been sealed, and their screams have ceased, the doll will be cleansed. Choose wisely, their death will weigh on your conscience."  
"What!?" Nikita gulps.  
"Wait, so one of us has to commit suicide?" Colleen realises, and just hopes whoever it is, isn't her.  
"We have to choose someone, right now, to go inside there." Joey points into the chamber of spikes.  
"I'm stepping down." Manny murmurs. "Don't wanna get murdered."  
"Any volunteers?" Nikita asks, hoping that someone will, so she doesn't have to.  
"Hell no!" Colleen screeches.

We literally have to choose one of our friends to die right here, right now. Joey closes his eyes. 'Joey, don't let them do this to me!' He remembers her screams. He couldn't save her. And now he can't save the unfortunate person who goes in this time. He begins to think that maybe he should go in, after all, he deserves it. It's his fault everyone came here. It's his fault 19 of his friends are dead. 20, if he includes Allison. Maybe he should just end the murder cycle now..

No challenge, no chance to fight. Safiya is lost for words..  
"Do you remember how, on the map, it said that there will be blood on our hands?" Safiya begins.  
"This is what it meant." Manny finishes. 

"Should we all, like, plead our case right now?" Colleen already knows she has Joey's vote, so it's best to convince the others to let her stay. "Like, I don't know- what do we do?"  
"I don't know. I wasn't- I was not expecting this." Rosanna adds.  
"Okay guys, I think this is definitely a plead your case moment." Manny agrees.  
"Okay."

"I stuck my hand down that drain, and down that pipe, and I was very active as a member, and especially in this challenge, for bravery." Nikita lists off her accomplishments in her mind.  
"Agreed, completely."  
I'm not going in there honey, Nikita thinks..

"I think you guys are all great, but I don't think there's another puzzle solver in this group the same way that I can do it, so.."  
Safiya's never actually had to kill one of her friends before, so she doesn't know what to do.

"Ro?"  
"I have a lot of heart. I have your back, 100%."  
At this point, Rosanna loves everyone in the room, It's a no-win situation.  
Colleen is starting to see cracks in Ro. She's not justifying what she did. Is it because she didn't do anything? Maybe. Out of everyone left, Colleen knows Ro is the weakest member of the group. But how long will it take until everyone else begins to notice too?

"I'm one of the strongest competitors. I feel like we might need brute force for something. Who knows?" Please don't let me get voted in, Manny begs..

"I found this coin. And we know that this coin is going to give us an advantage in some way. So I feel like I brought an advancement to us." Guilt fills Joey's voice. Everyone can tell. Colleen looks at her old friend. Maybe she truly was wrong to judge him. Joey feels like he's proved himself, he just hopes everyone else feels that way too. 

"One of the biggest things I feel I've done so far, even though it might have been a little bit problematic, was have a gut feeling about Joey. And because of that, we found out something really important. And you have proved yourself.." Colleen makes sure to include Joey into her reasoning. It's the least she could do. Maybe he'll change his mind if he knows I've forgiven him. But, deep down, she hasn't forgiven him. She knows what he did, and now she's just waiting for everyone else to agree. "And I'm sorry that I came for you." She's very confused, she was so sure Joey was doing something terrible to us, but now she feels like he might actually be trying to help. "But we wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for that. I really think you need me to get to the end."  
Any rift Colleen caused within the group, was because she was angry. Angry for her dying friends. Angry for Erik. Angry for her future son. Angry for her family. None of which she'll ever see again. 

"So, basically, all we've said is, we all need to be here." Colleen sighs.  
This decision isn't that difficult for Joey. He knows what he has to do, and it's just right in front of him. And he's just going to do it.

Joey sighs. "I'm just gonna be up front and honest." Regret lingers in his voice. Is he making the right decision? He will never know. "I'm gonna vote for you." He looks down at his shoes, and fiddles with his hands. Nerves overpower him. Colleen was once his best friend, and now, now he's voting her to die. Three years ago, he'd never even consider the option. But now, now he has no other choice. 

"Joey, I'm sorry I came for you earlier. But, you were lying to us.." She's almost silent.  
"But, that was my secret to tell." Joey responds, keeping a brave face. He doesn't want to. Any other day, he'd cry on her shoulder. But tonight, he knows what he's here to do. If Colleen has to die to keep him alive, so be it.. "You forced me into that situation." He continues.  
"But, you forced all of us into a town where everyone is dying!" Colleen sighs. There's no use. They're all against her, she won't make it to the end of the night, and she knows it.  
"I understand."  
"Joey," Her voice is breaking. She's close to sobbing. Everything aches. She's tired. Of course, she wants to stay alive, but deep down she knows her time has come. "Do not vote for me, please."

He turns away from her stare. "I think we're running out of time. I think it's time."

"We gotta keep this fair," Mortimer says. "Everyone stand over here," He points to the back of the room, and the group line themselves up against it. 

Everyone did contribute in some way. So this is really, really tough. But at the same time, we need to all come to one consensus here. Nikita hopes this voting will be easy, but she knows it won't. It never is.

"Come." Calliope points at Joey.  
At this point, Colleen is just trying to cause drama between me and everyone else. And, we just can't have that. He barely even examines the other cards, before picking up The Disco Dancer. He turns around to show off the card. "I don't want to be shady about this." He sighs. "I'm sorry Colleen." Joey just wants to prove to everyone he has all the cards on the table.  
Colleen slumps against the back wall. Her eyebrows furrow. She just doesn't understand how someone can look at another person in the face, and say they're going to put you in a terrifying spike box and murder you. 

Manny's up next. He leans off the wall, and walks over to the voting pile. Six faces look back at him, but he knows which one to pick. He's going to have to vote Colleen in, because he still doesn't know if he can trust her fully. She started going after Joey, but then starts to be like 'Oh, I forgive you!' If she can turn on Joey so fast, can she do the same to me too? He selects The Disco Dancer, and retreats silently back to the wall.

Nikita honestly thinks Colleen deserves to go into the Maiden Of Madness. She is a Maiden, and she is a little mad. She immediately picks up The Disco Dancer, and spins on her heel to face Colleen directly in the eyes. "You were wrong to accuse him." She says. Each word a dagger in itself to Colleen's heart. These people, they're not her friends anymore. She feels betrayed, and heartbroken. She apologised to him, and thought she fixed the situation. 'I guess not,' she says to herself.

Rosanna is picked next, and is already shaken before she can even go up. Tears blind her. She's frozen solid with nerves. She's about to pick someone to die. What monster has she become..  
"I'm sorry." She cries, as she shows off her Disco Dancer card. Colleen counts up how many votes she has. Four so far. If Rosanna can pick her, then so will Safiya..  
"It's okay, Ro." Joey comforts her.  
Voting for Colleen breaks Rosanna's heart, but she knows she has to have Joey's back. Otherwise, she'll be the next one to go. Rosanna instantly realises what she's thinking, and tells herself off in her mind. Joey is her friend. He would never hurt her. Would he?

Safiya is the last of the 'Anti-Colleen' group to vote. She knows everyone else has voted Colleen, she's not saying she too wants her to die, but.. better her than me. She quietly picks up a Disco Dancer card, and hands it to Calliope. 

Colleen is the last to vote. As she's beckoned by Calliope, her legs feel like jelly. She can't walk. She can't think. She can't process what's going on.. She doesn't care who goes in at this point, as long as it isn't her. She surveys her options. Joey, Rosanna, Nikita, Manny, Safiya and- what!? Not one Disco Dancer card remains. There's a one in six chance of her getting out of this, and at the moment, the odds are not exactly in her favour.  
She looks once again at the people remaining, and goes over each one.  
Joey is her friend. Sure, he may be out to kill them all, but if she votes him now and lives, he will die. The others will never forgive her.  
Rosanna is a good person. Well, she was.. But then, she also voted her. Plus, she hasn't done much since Matt's death. Maybe, if she goes now, she won't witness any more of her friends dying. She picks up The Jet Setter without even looking at the remaining three cards. She hands it to Calliope, and sighs. Sorry Ro, but it's for the best.

"I will now shuffle, and draw one." Calliope says. The group begin to wonder why she's so calm with this. Maybe she should die instead.

Colleen cannot believe that her friends are trying to kill her. She's never been more scared in her whole life than she is right now. 

Every single one of them look closely at Calliope's cards. Watching them shuffle and move around, knowing that whichever one she picks will result in a death. Calliope puts the cards down. Someone's fate has been decided.. Calliope selects the top card. Colleen can only hope that by a tiny chance, no matter how small, her card is not the one in Calliope's hand.

Calliope holds the card up, and solemnly turns it around..  
"The Jet Setter."

The entire group falls silent..  
They stand there for a moment. Rosanna looks up at Joey.  
"But.. I had your back." She whispers.  
Colleen instantly regrets her decision, and slinks back into the shadows. She will not have any more part in Rosanna's death. She's done enough damage as it is.  
Joey looks down at Rosanna, and the group embrace her into a hug.. Manny sobs into her beret. Safiya looks away from her best friend, the friend she's about to kill. But, she can't. She just can't do it.. For the first time tonight, Joey wishes his card was in Calliope's hand.  
"Safiya.." Rosanna murmurs through her tears.. Safiya turns around. "Look after this for me."  
She hands her Matt's detective badge. 'There is no justice here,' she remembers. Matt was right after all. The group hug her again, while Colleen quietly heads back to Fat Man Slims. She can't. She cannot watch this. It'll break her.  
Nikita hugs her from behind, strokes Ro's hair, and then grabs her. Luckily, Rosanna is much lighter than anyone else.  
"No! Nikita, stop!" Joey begs.  
"Joey, don't let them to this to me!" Rosanna sobs. Joey looks at Rosanna directly in the face. He's heard that before, and it broke him. He's about to go through it all over again.  
"This is sick!" Joey lunges in front of the Maiden.  
None of them know how, or why, Rosanna's card was drawn. But, Nikita knows its' either Ro or all of us.  
"Joey, we have no other choice. Now move." Nikita says, and Manny begins to wonder if Nikita is even human anymore. Safiya looks on from the shadows. She falls to her knees, squeezes her eyes closed, and covers her ears. It'll go away soon. It will.  
"Nikita, what are you doing!?" Manny yells.  
Nikita is close to the Maiden, dragging Ro from her waist.  
"It's her or us!" She yells back.  
"Joey, why!" Rosanna screams, kicking her legs to stop Nikita from dragging her any further.  
Safiya's heart hurts. She's gone through so much tonight already. First it was Matt, and now Rosanna. The demons won't let her friends live, will they? 

Manny grabs Rosanna's right arm, while Nikita takes her left.  
"Safiya, please! Do something!" Rosanna begs. Safiya is too scared to move.  
Manny and Nikita make their way to the Maiden Of Madness.  
"Joey!" Rosanna screams, but before he can respond, the doors are sealed... 

The screams of what was once a Cinnamon Roll cease. Manny and Nikita lean against the Maiden's doors. Safiya's still crying against the wall, begging the demons to leave her be. Colleen is nowhere to be seen, and as for Joey.. Joey's a withering wreck. He's embraced into a hug with Calliope, who for once this night, is actually crying..

The chamber re-opens, with the Blood-Doll within. Joey picks it up, and it glows black in his hands.. 

"There's no point in shedding tears anymore." Nikita sighs. "We have to all be strong. If we don't complete all of this by sunrise, everyone would've died for absolutely nothing."  
Nikita is just as sad as anyone else that Rosanna is gone, she was a team player, but at the same time, 'we gotta go!'

Safiya manages to pull herself together enough to stand back up.. Joey pulls himself away from Calliope, and the pair join Nikita and Manny in the centre of the room.  
"Now that we have the two coins, we can open the box.."  
Joey's eyes light up for the first time this hour. He completely forgot. Safiya speaks for the first time since Rosanna's card got drawn.  
"Let's just do these puzzles, and get out of here." She walks away quietly, and no-one dares to change her mind. They'll worry about Colleen later..


End file.
